Aftermath
by RoxxiSanders
Summary: Set during and after 'Fannysmackin'. "I know you Greg, you are not a murderer." "Then why do I feel like one?"


**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own anything except Lexxi Seymour. All rights to CSI belong to CBS. 

**SUMMARY:** Imagine if Lexxi had been at the crime lab for a few months and she had grown close to Greg. How would she have reacted when she found out what had happened to him in the season 7 episode, 'Fannysmackin'? In this story, Greg had been on his way home from work and is still working in the lab. Sara and Grissom aren't dating in this story either.

**A/N: **I felt so sorry for Greg in this episode but they really didn't show Greg getting enough sympathy and attention so here's my take on what could have happened when he was found, later on, when he was in hospital and when he was released a few days later.

There are a couple of swear words.

**TITLE: **Aftermath

**CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI **

They were all sitting in the conference room, discussing their case, when Jim Brass walked in, a solemn look on his face. "It's Sanders, he radioed in for help." They all looked at him, urging him to carry on. "When the police got there, they found him and a few other people on the ground. Greg's been beaten pretty badly, we need a few CSIs to go out there." 

Lexxi sat in shock, she hadn't known Greg for as long as the rest of the team but they were pretty close. "I want this case."

Grissom looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Lexxi, you know I can't let you have it. You'd be too emotionally involved, we all will but you…" He trailed off, now knowing how to finish his sentence. 

"Then what am I supposed to do? I can't sit around and do nothing." He could tell by her voice that she was upset.

"No, you're going to go with Sara and Sofia to the scene and then I want you to go to the hospital with him. He'd probably feel a bit better waking up to a familiar face." Lexxi nodded and thanked him but Sara wasn't as pleased. 

"So what am I gonna do, sit back and watch from the sidelines? The best thing for Greg would be to wake up to someone he's known for longer than a few months, no offence Lexxi." She really didn't mean to sound so childish but every time she tried to get close to Grissom, he didn't even notice her. Greg always noticed her, tried to cheer her up when she had been rejected and she couldn't lose him to the newest recruit. 

"Sara, you and Sofia are going to go to the scene, collect any evidence off the bodies and bring it back to the lab then I want you back on your original case. Nick and Warrick are going to process the scene and me and Catherine are going to help out with both cases." His voice was commanding but she could detect the understanding behind his words. 

**CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI **

When Lexxi, Sara and Sofia arrived at the scene, they were shocked at the sight before them. Greg was covered in blood and Sara could see the bruises which were starting to form. Sofia stared in horror, seeing anyone in this much pain was awful but seeing one of their own made it ten times worse. Lexxi moved, ready to run over to Greg but Sara tried to hold her back. "Get off me!"

"Lexxi, we need to be given permission by the officer in charge, we aren't strictly working the case." Sofia tried to calm her down, once she had gotten over the shock. 

"Please just let me…" Sara tightened her grip around Lexxi's waist as she fought against her. 

"Lexxi, you are absolutely no use to Greg in this state; calm down." Sara's words sunk in and she stopped trying to break free. 

One of the police officers walked over to them and, taking in their CSI vests, allowed them under the crime scene tape which had been put up. Lexxi immediately ran over to Greg's side and ran her fingers through his hair. "Greg? God Greg, what did they do to you?" The question was aimed at the air more than Greg. He lay with his eyes closed and Sara walked over, kneeling on his other side. Sofia came up behind Lexxi, knelt down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Greg, can you hear me? It's me, Sara." 

He tilted his head slightly, wincing in pain and wishing he hadn't bothered. "Sara?"

"Yeah, I thought you couldn't see." Her eyes filled with tears as Greg winced again.

"I can't, I'd recognise that Sidle scent anywhere." She laughed slightly, trying to stop the tears from falling. 

"I'll take that as a compliment." She finally answered back, trying to keep her voice even. 

"Hmm, you'll need to process me. One of them spat on me, his DNA is on my jacket. I think they crashed into the side of the car too, there'll be paint transfer. You'd better get to it." 

"I came here for you Greg, not to process the scene." Sara's voice was filled with emotion and Greg inwardly sighed at the thought of causing her pain. 

Greg finally realised that the hand which was tangled in his hair, was on his other side and belonged to someone else; someone that wasn't Sara. "Lex?" His voice was raspy and quiet but Lexxi detected the hint of hope which laced his words.

"Yeah, it's me." Unlike Sara, she couldn't stop the tears which fell from her eyes. "Grissom wouldn't let me take the case but he said that I could come out here to…" She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. "Sofia's here too."

"Now it's really a party, huh?" He tried to joke, needing to cheer them all up and was rewarded by a small chuckle from Sofia.

"Yeah, you could have dressed up a little better Greg." Sofia joked back, trying to lighten the mood but knowing that it would take a lot more than a few jokes to stop the tears which were still falling down Lexxi's cheeks. "Listen, me and Sara can't come with you to the hospital but Lexxi's gonna go with you. We'll come and see you later, ok?" He quietly agreed and was put into the back of an ambulance, followed by a tearful Lexxi who told Sofia and Sara that she would look after him.

Once in the ambulance, Greg let the pain take over and passed out as Lexxi sat and took hold of his hand. "Don't leave me, you have to pull through this; you hear me Greggo?" As she sat, clinging to his hand as if it was her last lifeline, she sent up a silent prayer; praying that he would be strong enough to get over his attack.

**CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI **

The next time Greg woke up, he was bandaged up and lying in a hospital bed. He opened his eyes and glanced around the room, his eyes falling on Lexxi who was asleep in a chair at the side of his bed. He smiled slightly, he always felt happier when she was around. 

She must have realised that he was awake because she opened her eyes and sat up straight in the chair. She then shuffled the chair closer to the bed and smiled gently at him. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Like I got in a fight with a gorilla and lost." She looked at him sadly and he could tell that she was terrified for him. "I'll be ok, just need to…" He trailed off and shrugged his shoulders slightly, stifling a wince for her sake. "How long have you been here?"

She shrugged her shoulders the looked down at her watch. "About six hours, maybe." His eyebrows rose in surprise and he suddenly felt guilty. "I wanted to be here when you woke up." There was a long, awkward silence. "I called Grissom, he told me to tell you that everyone's gonna come round when they manage to solve the case; it's top priority."

"Why aren't you working on it?" His voice wasn't accusatory, just curious. 

"Grissom told me that I wasn't allowed to, he said that I was too emotionally involved." He smiled slightly and she took hold of one of his hands, being careful not to hurt him further.

"Thanks…for staying with me." His voice was soft and she smiled at him.

"There's nowhere else I could have been." Her voice was sincere, making Greg feel warm inside. 

"You know, if you want, you can go home…get some rest." He didn't expect her to stay all night, secretly he was wishing that she would but if she wanted to leave then he wasn't going to stop her. 

"I'm not going anywhere." Greg nodded and she fidgeted in the chair, trying to make herself more comfortable but never letting go of his hand. 

**CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI **

Two hours later, Greg was falling asleep again and Lexxi had left. She had told him that she would be back later; she was just going to see how the case was coming on. He was dosing off when he heard the rapid beeping of a heart monitor and was horrified to see the nurses and doctors trying to revive Demetrius James in the next room. After a few minutes, the eldest doctor pronounced time of death and left the room; leaving a heart broken family to grieve. Greg closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling down his face.

"Greg, are you feeling up to a visitor?" He opened his eyes and saw one of the nurses watching him, concern in her crystal eyes. 

"Who is it?" Greg wasn't up to facing anyone to be honest, especially not Lexxi. 

"A gentleman that claims you saved his life." Greg closed his eyes; he had saved one life but ended another, destroying a family in the process. She looked at him, waiting for an answer and after a few seconds he nodded. 

She ushered the man in and left the room. "Mr Sanders, I just wanted to thank you for all that you did for me." Greg put on a fake smile, not wanting to dampen the older man's spirits by telling him that he had effectively killed someone. 

"There's no need to thank me sir, I was just doing my job." The man shook his head and told Greg that not many people would have helped in the way that he had. "Honestly it was nothing, I'm glad that you're ok."

"How are you feeling?" The man asked, sitting in a chair by Greg's bed. 

"I've been better but I'm not too bad, thanks for asking." The man nodded and asked him if he needed anything. "No, I'm alright thank you." 

They sat and talked for about half an hour but the man left when Greg started to feel tired. They swapped mobile numbers and the man told Greg that if he wanted to talk about anything, then he was being released the day after and all Greg had to do was call him. 

**CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI **

A few days later, Greg was told that he could be released from hospital as long as he stayed with a friend for a couple of weeks. After a small discussion in the break room, the day before, Grissom decided that Greg should stay with Lexxi because he would open up to her. 

Lexxi agreed with them but didn't tell them that Greg had been ignoring her ever since the death of Demetrius James. The next afternoon, Lexxi arrived at the hospital with Grissom. "Greg, the nurses have agreed to let you out of this place but you have to stay with a friend for a couple of weeks." Grissom smiled at him but Greg just nodded and looked at the floor.

"I've been told, so who drew the short straw?" His voice was cold and devoid of any emotion which scared Grissom; he had always been so chirpy.

"Lexxi said that you can stay with her." He looked up and Lexxi smiled at him.

"Ok, I'll need to go home first, get some stuff though." They nodded and he mumbled a 'thanks' to her before standing up and putting all the 'get well soon' cards in his bag. 

They drove back to the crime lab in silence because Lexxi needed to take Gil back to work. When they had said a quick 'hello' to everyone, they went to Greg's apartment so that he could pack some things together and then went to Lexxi's apartment to get him settled in. She unlocked the door and dragged Greg's suitcase into the apartment as he followed her inside and stood helplessly in her hallway. "I'll just put clean sheets on the bed in the guest room, make yourself at home. Living room's just through there." She pointed down the hallway and he silently nodded. She took his suitcase into the guest room and he walked into the living room. 

He had never been in Lexxi's apartment before, they had had pizza in his apartment and he had walked her home before but he had never actually been inside. Her living room had a fireplace with a collage made from pictures of family members hanging on the wall above it. There were also a set of French doors which led out onto a small balcony; on the balcony there was a sun bed and a table with four matching chairs. She walked back into the room and came up behind him. "Ok, the guest room's set up. You want something to eat?"

He remained silent but shook his head as Lexxi grew ever more concerned. She knew that he blamed himself entirely for the death of Demetrius James but she hadn't realised quite how much it had affected him. 

**CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI **

A few days later Lexxi was getting worried; Greg had been quiet since he had gotten home from the hospital. One evening when he woke up from the nap he had taken, he walked into the kitchen expecting Lexxi to have gone to work already; instead he found her making sandwiches. "Lexxi, shouldn't you be at work?"

She turned around and offered him a small smile. "I told Grissom that I was worried about you, he told me to take a few days off."

"I'm fine…I don't need a babysitter." His voice was cold and all she wanted to do was take him in her arms and hold him forever but she knew that if she tried to hug him, he would only retreat. 

"Greg, I wanna help you. I know something's wrong; you can talk to me you know." He said nothing so she cautiously walked over to him and put a hand on his arm. "Tell me what's wrong, I won't judge you; I just wanna help."

"Why? Why the fuck would you wanna help me? I'm a murderer Lexxi!" She looked sat him, shock written all over her face. 

"You don't believe that. You are not a murderer Greg Sanders." She tried to convince him that he wasn't capable of murder but he wouldn't listen to her. 

"Yes I am! I ran over Demetrius James, I murdered him! He was just a kid…a kid Lex, I killed him! I didn't deserve to live." His last statement came out as a whisper and he looked at the floor, ashamed.

"It was self defence Greg." She soothed but his head jerked up, anger in his eyes.

"I still killed him! He had his entire fuckin' life in front of him until I took it away! I'm a murderer, it doesn't matter if it was self defence of not; fact of the matter is…I'm responsible for the death of a kid!"

"He wasn't a kid Greg, he was a monster." She needed to make him see that he was a good person because he thought he was worthless and Lexxi was terrified that he was going to do something drastic. "Greg, you're a great guy, you're sweet and funny and I love you so much…I know you and you are not a murderer."

He looked at her then sank to the floor, tears falling down his cheeks. She rushed over to him and enveloped him in her arms, holding on to him for dear life. When he finally calmed down, she slid her fingers into his hair and twisted his head so that he was facing her. "Did you mean that?" His voice came out as a whisper and she nodded. "I just feel so guilty and every time I close my eyes, I see him…I see him dying in that hospital bed and I can't help but think, 'that's because of me'. I've turned into this whole other person and I don't know or particularly like the new me." His voice grew quieter and she had to strain to hear the last part. 

"Greg, I know you feel horrible about it but you had no other choice; he was going to attack you." She held him a little tighter, being careful not to hurt him. 

"I just hate the person I've become. I don't wanna be me anymore." A few more tears rolled down his face and she gently wiped them away before kissing the top of his head.

"Look Greg, you are no murderer and I know that if you could; you'd take it all back and do it differently but the fact of the matter is, you can't. You are a great guy and somewhere inside you, the real Greg wants to come back; _my_ Greg wants to come back. Greg this isn't you, you're witty, loud, irritating at times and you always look at the positive aspects in life." He suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly, almost as if she was all he had left.

"I know, I wanna be that person again but I can't get through this on my own." He sounded scared and weak but Lexxi didn't care; she was just glad that he was finally confiding in her. 

"You don't have to, I'm here for you Greg; all you have to do is talk to me." He thanked her and snuggled into her arms as she sat on the kitchen floor, holding on to him and whispering that it would all be ok. "Shh, we'll be ok; we're gonna get through this together. I'm not ready to give up on you yet, I promise."

**CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI **

Later that night, Lexxi was in bed but Greg was sitting out on the balcony. He was laid on the sun bed, staring at the stars and thinking about what Lexxi had said to him. She had said that she loved him and he couldn't help but wish that she loved him in the way that he wanted her too. He was looking up at the sky when he heard a voice from the doorway. "Greg? You ok, s'kinda cold tonight?" She took in his appearance; he was wearing a pair of baggy, blue pyjama pants and a pale blue, hooded sweatshirt; his hair was mussed up and she guessed that he had been to sleep at some point. He turned his head and smiled a small smile, there, leaning on the doorframe, was Lexxi. She was dressed in a pair of purple pyjama pants with gold stars on them and a matching, long-sleeved pyjama top. Her voice was laced with sleep and her hair was ruffled and messed up yet he thought that she looked beautiful. 

"Yeah, just thinking." He looked back out at the sky.

"Bad habit that you know." He looked at her again, his eyebrows raised and she smiled. 

"Hmm, so I've been told. Sorry if I woke you."

"You didn't." She walked over to him and sat on the arm of the sun bed, looking down at him. "So what ya thinkin' about?"

"Just…how lucky I am to have you; most people would have given up on me." His voice was soft and sincere.

"I told you, I'm not giving up on you." 

"Maybe you should."

"Maybe I think you're worth the effort." He looked up at her and she ruffled his hair. "I told you before, I love you Greg and I don't care what it takes…we're gonna get through this." Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight and Chocolate mixed with emerald as he smiled back. 

She gave a small squeak of surprise when Greg pulled her onto his lap and hugged her with all he had. "Thank you, for not giving up on me." She said nothing; just laid her head on his chest, snuggling into his sweatshirt. They lay in silence for a few minutes until Greg broke the silence. "I love you too Lex."

She raised her head from his chest and smiled up at him before leaning in to join her lips to his. He was a little surprised at first but soon started to kiss her back. When they finally pulled back, they grinned at each other as she asked, "You ready to go back inside?" He nodded and she climbed off him. They walked back into the living room and she locked the door then they both walked down the hallway. 

"Lexxi, can I ask you a favour?" She looked at him with raised eyebrows, urging him to continue. "Will you stay with me tonight? Truth is…I need you, I need to be held and told that everything's gonna be ok."

"You know I will." She took hold of his hand and led him into her bedroom then climbed into bed and lay on her back. He climbed in beside her and lay down with his head on her chest and one arm wrapped around her waist. "Goodnight Greg, I love you and I know I've told you this before but…we'll be ok."

He nodded and snuggled into her. "I know, night Lex…love you too." 

They fell asleep, holding on to each other as tightly as they possibly could. Greg knew that everything would be ok because now he felt like he had something to fight for. Lexxi Seymour was the love of his life but she was more than that…she was his lifeline and as long as he had her, he knew that he'd never have to fight his demons alone ever again. 

**CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI – CSI **

**A/N: **Well what did you think? Please review, all are loved and all constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks for reading and until next time…

Luffles and huggles.


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